Henry Lawson: The New Zealand Visits

Abstract

Writers on Henry Lawson have so far failed to give an adequate account of his visits to New Zealand in the 1890s. The importance of his time in this country is undeniable, for it fell within the decade of his most fruitful literary work, and left its mark on his writings. The materials for reconstructing the events of these visits are sketchy, scattered, and, at times, seemingly contradictory. They include brief accounts by Lawson himself; reminiscences by his wife and by his friends and acquaintances, all written two or three decades after the events; autobiographical materials embedded in Lawson's stories and verse; and various brief references in contemporary newspapers and other records.